iPhone tops US smartphone sales but Android controls 44%

New data from Canalys shows that iPhone was the best selling smartphone in the third quarter of 2010, controlling 26.2 percent of the market, but with the amount of phones now running Google’s Android, it represents a combined 43.6 percent.

Apple’s 26.2 percent share edged Research in Motion’s 24.2 percent, giving Apple control of the largest smartphone market in the world.

However, Canalys also showed that Google’s Android operating system represented 43.6 percent of the US smarthphone market.Through out last year, Android has grown world wide by 1309 percent because in the third quarter of 2009, there were 1.4 million shipments which increased to more than 20 million units during the three-month span this year.

“With Samsung, HTC, Motorola and Sony Ericsson all delivering large numbers of Android devices, and with focused efforts from many other vendors, such as LG, Huawei and Acer, yielding promising volumes, the platform continues to gather momentum in markets around the world,” said Canalys Senior Analyst Pete Cunningham.

“Android has been well received by the market and in some geographies it is becoming a sought-after consumer brand. It has rapidly become the platform to watch, and its growing volumes will help to entice developers, ensuring consumers have access to an increasingly rich and vibrant mobile content and application ecosystem.”

9.1 million Android smartphones from the Open Handset Alliance were shipped in the third quarter of 2010. This is way ahead of the 5.5 million iPhones sold, which is followed by BlackBerrys 5.1 million sold and then Microsoft with 600,000.

Apple are having their best year by selling 14.1 million iPhones which has helped achieve the company’s 70 percent growth in profits to $4.31 billion.